Search results for "hydrology"
showing 10 items of 1041 documents
An Italian survey of pitches for soccer
2004
On soccer grounds, grass cover is often reduced and the ground surface becomes uneven. Therefore, in order to assess the effects of climatic conditions, construction types and maintenance of the Italian soccer pitches, a detailed study was carried out. During 2000-2001, 61 soccer grounds were analysed, from continental to Mediterranean environments. First and second division Italian League grounds were about 30%, 40% were semi-professional and 30% were public grounds. Several parameters such as overseeding, fertilization, aeration, weed control, mowing and irrigation were collected in winter and at the end of the playing season, in order to evaluate soil profiles, grass mixtures and composi…
Discharge estimation in open channels by means of water level hydrograph analysis
2010
A new methodology, based on the synchronous measurement of stage hydrographs in two river sections located some kilometers from each other, was developed to estimate the discharge hydrograph in the upstream section. The methodology is based on the one-parameter calibration of a numerical flow routing algorithm, solving the Saint-Venant equations in diffusive or complete form. The methodology was validated using results of laboratory experiments carried out at the Polytechnic of Bari University. A known discharge hydrograph was generated in the upstream tank of a rectangular flume, where two water level sensors were located. Two different bed materials have been used, to account for differen…
Dual Multilevel Urban Drainage Model
2005
In urban areas, when heavy rains occur, the discharge capacity of sewers is usually unable to transport the effective rainfall reaching the streets. When the runoff flow rate exceeds the capacity of the storm sewer system, the excess flow is conveyed through the street network as overland flow. A dual model is proposed for modeling the system as a double network, formed by an upper network of open channels (street gutters) and a lower network of closed conduits (sewer pipes). What is new in this model is its capacity to take into account the hydrodynamic relationship between the flows in the upper and lower networks. The model is applied to computing the response of a real monitored basin; …
A δ18O isoscape for the shallow groundwater in the Baltic Artesian Basin
2016
The study presents a shallow groundwater isoscape for the Baltic region, which covers the major part of the Baltic Artesian Basin (BAB). BAB is an important palaeogroundwater reservoir, but prior to this study, little has been known about the spatial variability of δD and δ18O values in modern precipitation input across the region. To overcome this limitation, we hypothesized that the isotopic composition of shallow groundwater in the BAB could be used as a proxy for the mean weighted annual isotopic composition of local precipitation. However, the results of the study reveal many clear discrepancies between the isotopic composition of precipitation and shallow groundwater in the area. The …
Reduction of scouring downstream of a rigid bed by means of a vegetated carpet: experimental investigation in a laboratory flume
2016
Vegetation is a critical component of aquatic ecosystems and exerts an important role in river morphodynamics. This paper describes the results of laboratory study carried out to investigate the role of vegetation on flow field and erosion process developing in non-equilibrium situations. Particular attention is paid to scour evolving downstream of a rigid bed and to the effect of a vegetated carpet used as a protective measure against scouring. The reported experimental study shows that the introduction of the vegetated carpet results in a more favourable configuration than in its absence determining reduced values of flow velocity, turbulence intensity and bed shear stress, and modifying …
Basin-Scale Water Resources Assessment in Oklahoma under Synthetic Climate Change Scenarios Using a Fully Distributed Hydrologic Model
2010
Climate change resulting from the enhanced greenhouse effect is expected to have significant implications for the hydrological cycle. Several studies have pointed out the importance of basin-scale investigations for determining regional impacts on water resources, including the effects of floods and droughts. In this study, a fully distributed hydrologic model is used to assess the potential impacts of climate change on water availability in a basin in Oklahoma United States . With this aim, the hydrologic model was applied for current conditions as well as under the hypotheses of climate variations represented by scenarios consistent with a climatic trend analysis generated using a stochas…
Sediment Delivery Distributed (SEDD) Model
2000
Because eroded sediments are produced from different sources throughout a basin, it is often advantageous to model sediment delivery processes at basin scale using a spatially distributed approach....
Physically-based and distributed approach to analyze rainfall-triggered landslides at watershed scale
2011
Abstract Landslides are a serious threat to life and property throughout the world. The causes of landslides are various since multiple dynamic processes are involved in driving slope failures. One of these causes is prolonged rainfall, which affects slope stability in different ways. Water infiltrating in a hillslope may cause a rise of the piezometric surface, which, in turn, involves an increase of the pore water pressure and a decrease of the soil shear resistance. For this reason, knowledge of spatio-temporal dynamics of soil water content, infiltration processes and groundwater dynamics, is of considerable importance in the understanding and prediction of landslides dynamics. In this …
The influence of slope angle on sediment, water and seed losses on badland landscapes
1997
Abstract By means of simulated rainfall the influence of the slope angle on the soil, water and seed erosion has been studied on badland surfaces. Slope angle has a clear positive effect controlling soil erodibility and erosion rates, but it does not have any influence on the volume of runoff after 40 minutes of rain at an intensity of 55 mm h−1. In contrast, slope angle has a clear influence on runoff initiation, with cracks and crusts as the main factors controlling the time to ponding and time to runoff. Both ponding and runoff initiation start earlier on pediments than on slopes, where more cracks exist. Steady-state infiltration rates and seed losses have an inverse relationships with …
The contrasted response of ash to wetting
2013
Abstract After a wildfire the soil is covered by ash. Ash properties depend on vegetation type, amount of fuel and fire intensity. The ash layer controls the post-fire soil hydrologic response, but little is known about the effect of ash thickness and ash type on infiltration, which is relevant for post-fire runoff and soil losses and for ecosystems rehabilitation and restoration. This paper analyses the role of i) ash type (black or white), ii) thickness (5, 15 and 30 mm-thick) and iii) temporal variation (0, 15 and 40 days) under three simulated rain events (55 mm for 1 h) on soil surface hydrology. The rainfall was simulated on 0.25 m2 plots, and time to ponding, runoff and runoff discha…